Religious freedom

Religious freedom is the right to espouse the religion of one's choice, or none. Religious freedom is guaranteed in the constitution of the United States and is a commonplace in democratic countries. However, in many states and countries, secular and atheistic policies, particularly in the field of education, form in effect a restriction on religious liberties. Examples include the ban on classroom prayer in the United States, and opposition to the teaching of any alternatives to the discredited Theory of Evolution in many western nations.

The U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom reported in May 2017 that religious freedom around the world was "worsening in both the depth and breadth of violations."[1]

Religious freedom is seen as a grave danger by Communist regimes—very few religious freedoms are given in China, and under Communist rule religion was banned outright in Albania—and by strict Islamic regimes such as those in Iran and (particularly) Saudi Arabia.

"For as long as I can remember, liberals have been running around in a state of indignation, shouting that the government is being taken over by a dangerous band of religious fanatics who want to abolish the First Amendment, establish a national religion, force their bizarre sexual morality on children in public schools, rewrite the nation's laws to enforce their personal moral preferences, and punish anyone who dissents from their views. Unfortunately it's all true. That's precisely what liberals are trying to do." [1]

Examples of restrictions on religious freedom in the West

Despite the fact that many people, particularly left-wingers, consider the West to be the "free world" due to leftist policies, Christians and others who espouse conservative or unpopular views (which interestingly were considered mainstream only a few generations prior) have experienced increasing levels of persecution in Western countries, whether socially or legally. Increasingly, it is considered "dangerous" or "evil" to hold legitimate biblical Christian or conservative views that (despite the fact they are completely legitimate and sincerely held) contradict the leftist "consensus" or to pass them on to the next generation.

Due to their belief in the "Idea of Progress", left-wingers and even establishment "conservatives" believe that humanity is advancing and improving. Since they consider theologically conservative and orthodox Christianity to be "outdated," "archaic," or "narrow-minded," they believe that wiping out biblical Christian beliefs will only enhance progress and remove an obstacle to the betterment of humanity. Thus, despite the total lack of evidence, biblical Christian beliefs thought in love are increasingly considered "hate speech" or a "hate crime."

This is a very non-exhaustive list of restrictions on religious freedom that Christians have experienced in the supposedly "free world" since the turn of the century:

General examples

Any biblical Christian in the West who voices or acts upon their sincerely-held, biblically-based beliefs for biblical creation or biblical marriage will (at least) receive harsh scorn from others (and many of those "others" view themselves as "tolerant" of people with opposing views).

Homeschooling is illegal in much of the supposedly "free West", forcibly removing children from their parents and subjecting them to be indoctrinated by the leftist governments or private schools that do not support biblical Christianity.

United States

Numerous Christians, whether business owners or other people, such as Kim Davis or Roy Moore, have been persecuted in various ways (lawsuits, loss of business, arrest, etc.) for holding on to their sincerely-held beliefs and refusing to bow down to the homosexual agenda.

In a government report released in 2016, Martin R. Castro, the chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, stated that "The phrases “religious liberty” and “religious freedom” will stand for nothing except hypocrisy so long as they remain code words for discrimination, intolerance, racism, sexism, homophobia, Islamophobia, Christian supremacy or any form of intolerance."[2][3][4][5]

In 2014, the mayor of Houston, a leftist and the first openly-homosexual mayor of the city, briefly issued subpoenas on pastors, ordering them to turn over sermons concerning homosexuality.[6][7][8]

The Obama Administration and media's attitude toward a notable incident regarding homeschooling raised concerns over the future of the freedom to homeschool in the U.S. In 2008, a Christian homeschooling family traveled to the U.S. and applied for asylum in order to exercise their right to homeschool their children and give them a religious education.[9] Very few mainstream media agencies reported this notable incident.[9] The Obama Administration opposed the granting of asylum and sought to deport the family.[10][11] The administration argued in court that homeschooling was not a fundamental right and that the U.S. government could legally ban it and that the family's religious liberty was not being violated because not all homeschoolers are religious and because not all Christians want to homeschool (thus "suggesting that religious freedom is only the freedom to conform to a religious group, not the freedom to have individual religious convictions"[12]).[11][12] While the Department of Homeland Security ultimately chose not to deport the family,[13] the Obama Administration's legal reasoning had a major potential impact on religious freedom, as it could be used in the future to ban homeschooling in the U.S., hinder parents from being able to give their children a religious education, and assert that government – not parents – has the final authority over children.[12]

In 2010, a Christian street preacher was arrested for causing "harassment, alarm or distress" by calling homosexuality a sinful practice according to biblical teachings.[14] In 2015, another street preacher was fined for calling homosexuality an abomination.[15]

A pastor in Northern Ireland was charged and tried for making comments (in 2014) in one of his sermons against Islam that were considered "grossly offensive." Although he was found not guilty (in 2016), he should have never been tried in the first place, as Christians should be able to freely express and advocate their biblically-based theological positions.[16][17][18]

In 2016, a teacher at an Anglican school in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire was harshly criticized for stating on Twitter (in response to another teacher) that "Evolution is not a fact. That’s why it’s called a theory! There’s more evidence that the Bible is true."[19] This is just one of many, many examples of social persecution in the West, concerning numerous subjects, including creation science, the pseudoscientific theory of evolution, and homosexuality.

In early 2017, two Christian street preachers in Bristol were convicted for quoting the King James Bible in public because they supposedly used "threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person . . . and the offence was religiously aggravated."[20]

In November 2017, Tim Farron, a Christian and the former leader of the Liberal Democratic Party who resigned due to the incompatibility of his faith and his position, admitted that social persecution of Christianity is a real thing and that the culture sees it as dangerous.[21]

France

In 2016, the French Senate passed a bill making it illegal to post pro-life information on the internet.[22] In February 2017, both houses of the French parliament passed the bill, with the National Assembly's more severe and broad wording ultimately being adopted.[23] As of March 2017, the bill was being reviewed by France's Constitutional Council.[24] Regardless, this law would effectively criminalize the freedom of speech (at least on the internet) of those who support the true human right to life for unborn human beings,[22] and it illustrates the opposition to equal rights in the country.[25] France is already spiritually dead.

Germany

Germany's government – like the governments of numerous other European countries – strongly opposes homeschooling, and homeschooling has been illegal in the country since the Third Reich enacted a law on this matter in 1938.[26] The German government bans homeschooling because it argues it must "counteract the development of religious and philosophically motivated parallel societies," something which nullifies religious freedom and parental control.[12] In 2013, for example, German authorities confiscated four homeschooled children from a Christian family who homeschooled in order to give their children a Christian education – the German government did this simply because the parents were not sending their children to the government school.[27] In 2008, a German homeschooling family traveled to the U.S. and applied for asylum,[9] something which they were guaranteed in 2014.[13]

Sweden

In 2017, a Swedish local government unit forced a Christian preschool to ban prayer to God under the country's Education Act, but the preschoolers were subsequently instructed to thank the sun and the rain before meals.[28][29][30] Also in 2017, the Prime Minister of Sweden stated in an interview that Swedish state church priests should "marry" homosexual couples regardless of what they think of it, and that they should leave their positions if they don't do it.[31] In 2017, the Swedish Labour Court of Appeal ruled that a pro-life midwife can be forced to perform abortions even if she objects.[32] As of August 2017, the case is being appealed in the European Court of Human Rights.[33]

Canada

In 2017, a local Canadian school district, the Battle River School Division, ordered a Christian school to stop teaching "offensive" passages from the Bible, something that would alter the Christian message and omit key portions of the Bible from being taught.[34][35][36]

In January 2018, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau indicated that pro-life speech is not protected speech. When asked on where the Canadian government limits free speech, Trudeau mentioned abortion, stating that "an organization that has the explicit purpose of restricting women’s rights by removing rights to abortion, the right for women to control their own bodies, is not in line with where we are as a government and quite frankly where we are as a society."[40][41]

Australia

In July 2017, the Queensland Department of Education and Training issued an unofficial policy banning Christmas cards, any reference to Jesus, or anything else that might be seen as Christian evangelizing by primary school students.[42]

New Zealand

In 2017, Family First, a socially conservative organization that supports marriage being defined as between a man and a woman, had its status as a charitable organization taken away by the Charities Registration Board due to its stance on marriage.[43]